The Economist (March 12)
“Now after five decades, the end of Moore’s law is in sight.” This might not prove a bad thing as the quest for improvement will turn to more promising areas, such as the “deep learning” technology that recently beat Go legend Lee Sedol. “Huge performance gains can be achieved through new algorithms. Indeed, slowing progress in hardware will provide stronger incentives to develop cleverer software.”
Tags: Algorithms, Deep learning, Gains, Go, Hardware, Improvement, Moore’s Law, Performance, Progress, Promising, Software, Technology
Bloomberg (March 11)
“It’s been five years since the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl shook Fukushima. Roads have been rebuilt and electricity has been restored. But life has still not returned to normal for many of the prefecture’s residents.”
Institutional Investor (March 10)
“As had been widely anticipated, the European Central Bank today announced a cut for all three key benchmark rates and an expansion of the quantitative-easing program.” What remains to be seen is “what further monetary policy course the bank may take if negative rates fail to jump start spending and growth within the common currency zone.”
Tags: Anticipated, Benchmark rates, ECB, Growth, Monetary policy, Negative rates, Quantitative easing
Washington Post (March 9)
“Is the U.S. economy stronger than we think? Perhaps. A persisting puzzle about its recent performance is the stark contrast between growth of jobs (which has been unexpectedly robust) and the growth of the economy’s output (which has been unexpectedly weak).” It’s possible that economic output is being “consistently undercounted.”
Tags: Economy, Growth, Jobs, Performance, Puzzle, Robust. Output, U.S., Undercounted
Wall Street Journal (March 9)
Five years have passed since the nuclear meltdown, but “Fukushima still rattles Japan.” The nation must debate the controversial “reopening of reactors” that have largely been shuttered since the accident, even as “costly cleanup and decommissioning” are scheduled to continue for decades at Fukushima.
Tags: Cleanup, Controversial, Decommissioning, Fukushima, Japan, Meltdown, Nuclear, Reactors, Reopening, Shuttered
Financial Times (March 8)
“The tough UN sanctions to be imposed on North Korea, the result of an accord reached by the US and China, go well beyond previous efforts. Yet if the goal is to change Pyongyang’s behaviour, they will not be enough.”
Bloomberg (March 7)
“After Japanese stocks capped their best three weeks since 2014, investors see plenty of reasons to believe the rally will stick.” Since Feb. 12, Japan has been “the world’s best-performing developed equity market.”
Tags: Best-performing, Equity market, Investors, Japan, Rally, Stocks
New York Times (March 6)
“California is often at the vanguard of important policy changes. The state’s move toward raising the legal age to buy cigarettes should inspire other states to take similar steps to protect young people.”
Tags: California, Cigarettes, Legal age, Policy changes, Protect, Vanguard, Young people
The Economist (March 5)
“Every second three more Indians experience the internet for the first time. By 2030 more than 1 billion of them will be online.” Smart phone usage is soaring. And “no battle for the online future of India is more intense than the one now being waged in e-commerce.”While this is a “local battle for customers,” it is “also a battle for the future” that will likely prove “a better template for the e-commerce battle in other emerging markets.”
Tags: Customers, E-commerce, Emerging markets, Future, India, Intense, Internet, Online, Smart phone
Washington Post (March 4)
Thursday, March 3 “will go down as the most embarrassing day in the history of U.S. presidential politics.” During the Detroit GOP debate, candidates hit new lows in public discourse with unrestrained vulgarity that made this “presidential politics’ worst day ever.”
Tags: Candidates, Detroit GOP debate, Embarrassing, History, March 3, Presidential politics, U.S., Vulgarity
